Sayonara
by Rae Logan
Summary: Sonic watched sadly as his rival and friend broke down for the first time he could ever remember. The death of a beloved hero really takes it's toll on everyone. OneShot


Okay... I came up with this idea a while back... and I wanted to write a kinda sad story... So here it is...

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Rain began to poor heavily outside as people began to gather at a building. Sonic the Hedgehog watched as he saw everyone he knew congregate to this one place. The sky was now blackened from the rain clouds as a roll of thunder sounded off in the distance. He tilted his head as he saw Amy, dressed in a black dress with matching headband and shoes, collapse in grief, tears streaming down her face, screaming as Tails held her to comfort her, his own body shaking as he tried to suppress his own sobs. Sonic could see a bandage wrapped around his forearm, as well as the other was in a sling. Knuckles was turned away from everyone, his hands at his sides, his fists clenched tightly. Cream held onto her mother, bawling loudly as her mother hugged her to calm her down, her own face set with a dazed expression. Espio could be found with his back to a corner, refusing to face anyone, as Charmy seemed to have forgotten he could hover, and instead was sitting on the ground with his body slumped, his antennas drooping sadly. Vector was aiding Rouge and Omega in holding back a screaming Shadow, who appeared to be completely shattered. 

"IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN_ ME! _IT WAS _OUR_ MISSION! I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONE!" he screamed, trying to pull his way out of the hold of the trio that was restraining him. He tugged as forcefully as he could, but their combined strength coupled with his currently manic stated of mind, and his exhaustion from grief, would not allow him to break free.

Shadow collapsed to the ground, Rouge, Omega and Vector finally letting go when he started to howl from the pain of it all. His body shook violently as he grabbed his quills and yanked at them, a few red ones coming off in his hands, as his cries mixed with Amy's sobs.

"WHY, FAKER?! WHY?!" He fell into Rouge's arms heavily, holding onto her as if he never wanted to let go. Rouge broke down as well, the both of them crying into each others' arms.

Sonic raised his eyebrows. What was going on? He was sure that the blast avoided them when their recon mission at Eggman's base took a turn for the worst, and all sorts of explosions began to happen all around. He had pushed Tails out of the way, and had tried to use a Chaos Shield around him and Shadow with the repossessed Chaos Emerald, when the homing missiles came…

The next words he heard slammed the cold, harsh, but true reality right into him. He now knew exactly what had happened.

"..._ If only that shield had been big enough for both of us…" _He heard Shadow whisper harshly at the white bat that held him. "… _There was so much…Just like… like… It was so…_"

Shadow began to babble incoherently as he was lost in his own terror he had witnessed. His cries then turned into dry sobs, his breath barking as he lost his voice.

_Flashback_

_After the dust had cleared, Shadow held his hand over his eyes to better see through the glare that was playing off of the metallic walls. Standing just in front of him, clutching at his chest, was Sonic, who had gashes and gouges riddled throughout his body. Blood was gushing over his hand, dripping to the floor heavily in thick drops. Shadow could hear the _plit plit _sound they were making. His eyes widened involuntarily from shock._

_"…Fa…Sonic?" Shadow voice felt small as he stared at the sapphire hedgehog. Sonic unsteadily turned his head to peer over his shoulder. He closed his eyes with a weak smile, giving him a shaky thumbs-up, before dropping to the floor with a soft thud, his emerald eyes blinking one more time before his last breath, in which he breathe out "_…Sorry…_". Blood began to pool around him as Shadow covered his mouth, clutching at his chest, his breath catching painfully in it. Tails simply sat there, too shocked to speak. He was holding at his arm, which hung limply, while the other bled out. Then, in a daze, he got up shakily, and stumbled over to Shadow, who seemed frozen in his own time. Tails stared at the body of his hero, his eyes blinking slowly as he took the scene in. With each passing moment, it began to sink in. _

_Sonic the Hedgehog, the Great Hero of Mobius, the Fastest Thing Alive, the Blue Blur… was dead._

_Tails dropped to his knees and slowly dissolved into tears. The trembling fox shook his head, hoping to wake up from this horrid nightmare. He bit his lip, drawing a little blood as he did so… but nothing happened. It was for real. His hero, his "big brother", was gone. All in a matter of seconds._

_Shadow couldn't remember how he and Tails got out of the base, but the next thing he could remember was that the two of them were at the hospital being treated for any wounds from the recon mission. He turned his head to the right and saw that Tails had already been patched up, and was now staring out the window in a morbid daze. Shadow didn't quite understand how he was feeling right then, and it had felt as if a stream of emotions were pooling up, being stopped by a mental dam, prevented from breaking forth. He could feel some of the emotion leak through, causing him to feel as if his insides were hurting. _

_As he watched the doctor check him over, it almost felt as if he was far away from the rest of the world. He could actually see himself in the doctor's care, as if he was watching it elsewhere as someone else._

"_You're very lucky, Shadow," The doctor had said. "If Sonic hadn't thought of that… you both would have been dead…"_

_Those words brought Shadow back to his own state of mind harshly. He inhaled sharply, catching his breath in his throat, shaking as he gripped the edges of the bed he was sitting on, the fabric of the sheets scrunching as they twisted in his hands. _

_Rouge, who had been worried about his silence, got up from her chair and crossed the room to where he was sitting. She watched as his eyes began to shimmer, and tear up. She couldn't blame him; he had been right there._

_Shadow exhaled and took another breath. Then another. Then another. He closed his eyes, buried his face in his hands, and curled up into a ball, falling silent once more._

_For the next few days until the funeral, he would refuse to do much of anything. Rouge had begun to worry, because he was not talking about it, or even shedding some tears, as the one closest to that had been at the hospital, a few days prior._

_End Flashback_

Sonic watched sadly as his rival and friend broke down for the first time he could ever remember. He bowed his head dejectedly, and made his way to the casket. It was black with blue trim and handles, and was closed. He knew why, and he didn't blame them for wanting to. On it was various items such as flowers, and pictures. He even spotted a drawing done by Cream. He saw one bouquet that was one of Forget-me-nots, which had a nameplate stuck in it that said "Soniku". He smiled weakly, knowing that was from Amy. He saw the picture they had of him, pointing to himself with his thumb, giving a thumbs-up with the other hand, grinning profusely. He smiled… he hoped everyone would remember him that way.

"_Are you ready?_" He heard a voice say behind him. He turned and saw a beautiful white dog, in white robes, white wings, and a golden halo above her head. Sonic looked behind him, then looked back and pointed to himself, a little confused.

"_Yes… I can see you…_"

"_Who are you?_"

"_It's not really important now…You will find out in due time… the more important thing is Are You Ready?"_

Sonic looked behind him at his casket, then at his grieving friends, and back at the white dog, scratching the back of his head as he did so.

"_Will they be okay without me?_"

The dog was silent for a moment, and then she answered.

"_It is… hard to say, exactly… They can't really move on unless they choose to..."_

"_Can I say a few things to them? Before I go?_"

The white dog nodded. "_They will only hear you if they want to, however…_"

Sonic nodded and left first for Tails.

"_It's gonna be okay without me, little bro… I know you're gonna be okay after this… don't keep yourself weighed down by this, and make something out of yourself…okay?_"

Almost as if he heard, he nodded only slightly, whispering "_... Sonic…_" under his breath.

He came to Knuckles, and told him to keep at being the best Guardian of The Master Emerald of his time. It was uncertain if he had heard him… But Sonic hoped he had.

Whispering into Amy's ear, he said "_... I love you, Amy Rose… but don't stop loving because I'm gone… when you feel you're up to it, you have my permission to find someone else." _Amy held onto Tails tighter and nodded as well.

One by one he said his last words to everyone, stopping at the last two he had left to tell. Kneeling down to where Rouge and Shadow were, he first told Rouge what he wanted to say.

"_Keep watching over Shadow… He may seem like he's strong and okay sometimes… but, now more than ever, he needs someone to watch over him…And I think that someone should be you…_"

He turned to Shadow and rested his hand on his quaking shoulder, though he didn't know if he felt it or not. He leaned close and whispered what he had hoped Shadow had heard.

"_…It wasn't your fault…_"

Shadow held Rouge even tighter, and actually nodded, as if he heard Sonic. Sonic stood up and crossed his arm, smiling smally, hoping his words were not on deaf ears.

"_Are you ready?_"

Sonic took one last look at his friends, and then turn towards the light.

"_Yeah… Yeah, I'm ready…_"

Before he followed her he heard Shadow whisper one last thing. It was obviously aimed at him, and he couldn't help but laugh and risk a wave, though he knew they wouldn't see.

"_…Sayonara… Sonic the Hedgehog…_"

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Okay... How was that? Please read and Review. 


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